The invention relates to a control device of the type having a peristaltic valve allowing the selective opening and closing off of water supply tubes to be controlled. The invention can be applied particularly advantageously to drink dispensing machines, in particular, in order to control the selective opening and closing off of several supply tubes, such as, for example, a hot water supply and a cold water supply.
Lever-controlled devices having a peristaltic valve exist for a variety of applications.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,421 relates to a mixer comprising a device for selectively pinching two tubes and using a cam acting in association with compression levers.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,834 relates to a pinching valve for an iron which uses a rocker to selectively squash two tubes against a convex surface in order to selectively allow water or steam to pass through.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,142 relates to a device for controlling the flow of blood through two tube portions using a pair of clamping arms mounted such that they pivot on a support and are made to close by a central cam. The device comprises elastic means in the form of leaf springs which are held in tension by the central cam. One drawback of such a device relates to the high tensile forces maintaining significant squashing of the tubes which can rapidly damage them such that they do not regain their initial elasticity, the lack of stability in the various positions and a lack of smoothness due to the tensioning of the leaf springs causing significant tensile forces.
In particular, for an application in the field of drink preparing appliances, there is a need for a peristaltic valve device having greater smoothness when passing from one position to another and better stability in each of the positions assumed by the valve.